A review by 11corvus11
Nujeen's Incredible Journey by Nujeen Mustafa

4.0

I've always wanted to read more about Syria and have struggled to understand if I can trust the biggest names out there to tell the truth. I stumbled across this book and was excited to find a story by a disabled young woman discussing her youth as a Syrian and someone labeled a refugee and migrant. I definitely learned a lot from this book and understand things a little better. Her story is engaging, interesting, and of course devastating at times. I liked how she represented disability- she was neither a super-crip inspiration nor a sad case of pity. She did well conveying how her disability means she's a person with different needs- many of which are not met by abled societies even when they're not in the middle of a war or on a crowded boat. There were a couple of things she said that made me balk- particularly blaming women who wear scant clothing for their assaults by men because their clothing gives the "wrong idea." There are certainly cultural differences there but most Syrian refugee men get by fine without becoming confused into committing rape somehow. The men that do harm know what they're doing. The problem is that it's likely that the same proportion rape as any other group of men. The targeting of all men of color as rapists is a very common Western theme used to further white supremacy. I think there's a chance she just worded that wrong. And it stuck out far because the rest of her writing does not let aggressors off the hook like that, even though she does her best not to judge people.

Anyways, it's a worthwhile experience to hear/read her story if you're interested in what it's like to be fleeing a war-torn country. It may be something good to hand to someone who's having trouble empathising with refugees who needs to understand how critical it is for us to support them and how important it is to include women and girls, disabled people, and other marginalized people's needs in navigating how we best support them.